Cop Car's Chow

January 21, 2015

I no longer post recipes - usually. While Bogie was visiting for a few days, I did look around for a recipe for Tumbleweeds - and - promptly modified the one that I picked out - to suit my own taste. So I will be able to find the recipe the next time I wish to make Tumbleweeds, here it is.

Mix well:

1 quart vanilla ice cream (slightly softened)

¼ cup Kahlua coffee liqueur

¼ cup Crème de Cacao chocolate liqueur

¼ cup Brandy

¼ cup Frangelico hazelnut liqueur

Place mixture in tightly covered container, returning to freezer until time to serve. When served, sprinkle with grated nutmeg (if you like!)

Tumbleweeds were served by a member of our "social circle" back in the mid-1960s. Yes, shockingly enough, HH and I belonged to a "social circle" back then, comprising members of the local Jaycee chapter and its auxiliary. (I cannot believe that the spell checker wanted me to use "it's". Did I do OK, ME?)

May 04, 2008

All recipes from my old Cop Car's Chow blog, have been copied into this blog. In the importing of the recipes, editorial changes were made to improve readability. The date of original publication is displayed at the bottom of each recipe.

The recipes from the Cop Car's Chow blog (and any recipes that may subsequently be added to this blog) are easily retrieved by clicking on Cop Car's Chow--in the right hand sidebar under "Categories". Recipes were categorized by type (Beverage, Breads, Cookies & Cakes, et cetera) in the Cop Car's Chow blog. All recipes that were within a category of food in that blog, are grouped within a single posting for re-publication in this blog. Further, each posting is posted on a day separate from all other postings--for clearer display.

May 03, 2008

Beer

Disclaimer: As a non-beer drinker (I tried a couple of sips on my 40th birthday--more than enough!), I cannot personally vouch for this; but, when we were poorer, younger, and drinkier (deal with it!), Hunky Husband and his friends enjoyed this.

Dissolve in a large crock:

3 gallons room temperature (or slightly warmer) water

3 pounds malt*

Add, and stir to dissolve:

5 to 7 pounds white, granulated sugar**

7 gallons room temperature (or slightly warmer) water

Add:

2 medium potatoes (pared and thinly sliced)

1/4 teaspoon dry yeast

Assure that 1 to 1 1/2 inches of room remain to the top of the crock to allow for expansion. Stir, cover (loosely), let set at approximately 70 degrees Fahrenheit until a saccharometer is down to the top of the red line. Skim every 3-4 hours the first day, then twice daily until fermentation is complete.

Bottle and cap. Store for a minimum of one month (it is safe to drink after 3 days.)

*Malt controls color and taste. Hunky Husband prefers to leave about 1" of malt from a 3-pound can, unused.

**Sugar determines the strength. HH prefers 5 pounds.

I no longer remember the source of this recipe. It's probably been over 40 years since we've made beer. Just threw this recipe in to see if everyone is paying attention--lol.

Stir together until the mixture barely holds together. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead a few times (the less handling the better). Roll out to 1/3 to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut into circles of the desired size. (My grandmother always used a drinking glass--first as a roller to roll out the dough, then as a cutter. I use small cans, of various sizes, from which both ends have been removed.) Place biscuits on an ungreased baking sheet, spacing well apart, and bake at 450 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 to 12 minutes, until lightly browned on top and puffed up to a height of approximately 1 inch. Makes about 12 small biscuits.

Cook and stir until mixture thickens. Cool. Spread (rather heavily) on bread dough or sweet dough that has been rolled out. Roll up as a jelly roll, seal edge and ends, butter the surface, allow to rise until double in bulk. Bake 40 minutes @ 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Cool before serving. This recipe provides enough filling for 1/2 recipe of Rolla Rolls dough or Low Cholesterol, No Salt Rolla Dough. That is, divide the whole dough recipe into 4 parts (rather than the 3 stated in the recipes), and this recipe will fill rolls made from 2 of the 4 parts.

This recipe is from Hunky Husband's late mother, who was born in Serbia (Yugoslavia). Most of Mom S's cooking was ethnic Yugoslavian. Hunky Husband likes to have a slice or two of this at breakfast, with a cup of milk for dipping.

September 18, 2005

Rolla Rolls

Pour into a huge bowl:

3 cups hot water

1 cup milk (scalded, if you are so inclined)

Add and stir to dissolve:

1/2 cup white granulated sugar

3 packages dry yeast

Add:

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs (lightly beaten)

2 sticks unsalted butter (softened)

All-purpose or bread flour to make a thin batter.

Beat until smooth. Let stand for an hour.

Work in:

Flour--to make bread dough

Nuts* (pecan halves)

Raisins* (plumped)

Knead to the blister stage, grease, cover, and refrigerate over night. Divide into 3 parts. Work with each part individually. Flatten 1 part out on a floured board or pastry cloth. Let the dough rest for 10-20 minutes. Roll dough out with a rolling pin, spread with softened (or melted) butter, and roll up as a jelly roll. Cut into 1- to 1 1/2-inch slices. Place rolls into a buttered 13" x 9" x 2" cake pan--no more than 9 rolls per pan. The rolls will expand to touch one another. Butter tops of rolls, cover, and let rise in a warm place for about 1 1/2 hours. Bake 25-30 minutes @ 375 degrees Fahrenheit. While hot, spread desired amount of Confectioner's Icing (recipe is below) over the rolls. Serve warm. Makes a total of about 3 dozen rolls.

*Alternative method: Spread nuts and plumped raisins over the rolled out dough before rolling it up as a jelly roll. Using this method, one may use any bread dough (such as Low Cholesterol, No Salt Rolla Dough--recipe listed separately).

Confectioner's Icing

Blend:

1 pound (weight) confectioner's sugar

2 tablespoons butter (softened)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

milk (to make icing of spreading consistency)

This amount of icing will accommodate the rolls produced by the above Rolla Rolls recipe.

Hunky Husband agrees with Elder Brother that, "There is no such thing as too sweet." I prefer to apply the icing sparingly.

Origin of recipes: The general instructions were given me by a woman, "Cookie", who was a cook at Tucker's Sundries in the small college town where my brothers, my husband, and I pursued our higher education--Rolla MO. I remember neither where the bread recipe originated nor where I found the icing recipe.

September 18, 2005

Low Cholesterol, No Salt Rolla Dough

In a huge bowl, mix:

3 cups hot water

1/4 - 1/2 cup sugar

Stir to dissolve sugar, cool to a bit warmer than room temperature, and add:

1 cup 1/2% milk (scalded, if you are so inclined)

3 packages dry yeast

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 egg whites (lightly beaten)

1/2 cup cooking oil

2 cups all purpose or bread flour (total flour use will be approximately 12 cups)

Beat until smooth, adding flour to make a soft dough. Knead in additional flour and continue kneading to the blister stage. Oil the dough, let it rise until doubled in bulk. Use in making Rolla Rolls or Poteca (separate recipes are given.)

This is my own recipe, developed when I was trying to control my cholesterol by diet alone and while my mother was on a salt-free diet. She enjoyed having this made into dinner rolls (see below) which I baked and froze, individually, so that she might thaw and heat what she wanted.

Divide above dough into 3 equal parts. Form 1 part into a ball and flatten it by hand on a floured board or pastry cloth. Cover and let rest 10-20 minutes. Roll out with a rolling pin, then roll up--as for a jelly roll. Cut into 1- to 1 1/2-inch slices. Place into preferred baking pan (I use a 13" x 9" x 2" cake pan) that has been sprayed with non-stick product. Cover, let rise (or refrigerate, over night). Bake 25-30 minutes @ 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Each part makes approximately 1 dozen rolls.

Form into logs (I use a small cookie dough scoop and keep my hands damp to minimize the amount of mixture that clings to my hands. Place on a greased cooking sheet (or use cooking parchment), and flatten, slightly. Bake for approximately 15 minutes @ 350 degrees Fahrenheit--until firm, but not browned. Age for two weeks before serving--if that's possible. Makes approximately 4 dozen cookies. Store in a sealed container so that they don't dry out. Restore moisture with a cut apple or damp, fired clay disk (as for restoring moisture to hardened brown sugar.)

This is another recipe from my beloved late mother-in-law who was born in Serbia (Yugoslavia). These cookies are a "must" for the year-end holidays.

September 28, 2005

Baked Goody Bars

Disclaimer: This is one of the very few recipes that I have that features use of convenience foods. I've only made it once, having had the recipe for a few months, but it is delicious and a purist need only substitute scratch brownies for the mix and home-made frosting for the canned frosting (I used home-made creamed cheese frosting, not having canned frosting on hand.)

Cocoa Cake

Alternately add portions of the following liquid and dry ingredients, continuing to mix:

1 cup buttermilk

2 1/2 cups cake flour

1 teaspoon baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)

Beat until creamy, then add:

Mixture of 1/2 cup cocoa and 1/2 cup boiling water

Add, continuing to beat:

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Fold in:

2 egg whites (stiffly beaten--not dry)

Pour into a greased and floured 9" x 13" cake pan. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Cake is done when the center resists indentation by a lightly applied finger tip, or when a wooden toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

This recipe is from Mary Hart (long deceased), the wife of my mother's attending physician at the births of four of mom's and dad's five children. Mom made this cake for all family holiday meals. It was the birthday cake of choice of her three surviving children, and remains the birthday cake of choice of Dudette, Bogie, Wonderful Granddaughter, and Wichi Dude (I don't get to bake birthday cakes for Bogie's Wonderful Spouse *sigh*.) This recipe has been used by our family since at least 1940. Of course, when I was a kid (WIWAK), the milk and butter were from a family-owned cow, and sugar was rationed.

White Frosting

Cook in a heavy pan over low heat, until thick:

5 1/2 Tablespoons instantized flour (Wondra, for instance)

1 cup milk

Set aside to cool.

In a separate bowl, cream until fluffy:

1 cup granulated, white sugar

1 cup butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

When the milk and flour paste has cooled, blend it into the sugar and butter mixture. Whip to the consistency of whipped cream. (This frosting--on or off of a cake--should be refrigerated.)

This recipe was given me by a friend (Martha Pierson, now deceased) in about 1963-1964. It is my favorite for Cocoa Cake, but others seem to prefer chocolate frostings. I frequently use Foolproof Dark Chocolate Fudge as a frosting for Cocoa Cake.

Comments

Ah, Susan. This blog had about died of neglect. Thanks for coming by and jogging my memory about its existence! Nothing better than home-churned butter and home-made applebutter on home-made, flaky biscuits. My mouth waters!

Immediately, turn out of the sauce pan into an 8"- or 9"-square cake pan that has been lined with aluminum foil. Chill for at least 2 hours. Turn out of the cake pan onto a cutting board and cut into small squares. Store loosely covered at room temperature. Makes approximately 2 pounds (weight).

I vary the fudge when preparing it for Christmas--usually making 5 or 6 variations--by substituting toffee chips, peanut butter chips, et cetera for a portion of the semi-sweet chocolate chips. Amounts of semi-sweet chocolate chips and unsweetened baking chocolate may be traded off to obtain the darkness of chocolate preferred. Some prefer that the nuts be omitted.

This recipe is derived from one published by the Hershey's people. I've been using it since 1990, and it was what co-workers wished me to bring for our holiday smorgasbord, each year.

September 10, 2005

Comments

You put in a link to me under "Better Cooks than I"? Boy have I got you fooled (or you are being really nice!).

April 26, 2008

Stuffed Green Peppers

Having told Buffy that this recipe was included on this blog, I hasten to add it. It is beyond understanding that I'm so late getting the recipe posted! The basic recipe is from my late, beloved mother-in-law. I've updated it, a bit, to make it a bit more healthful.

Stuff the bell peppers 1/2-full of the mixture. Form the remaining into meat balls of desired size. Place in large cooking kettle, covering the meat balls with cold water. Bring to a simmer and simmer, covered, 1 1/2 hours. Cool. Refrigerate over-night. De-grease, and re-heat for serving. These are wonderful served with mashed potatoes--and the gravy, below.

The above recipe (minus the onions and peppers) may be used to make Sodima. Smother the meatballs in drained and rinsed sauerkraut, cook, cool, and degrease, as above.

Gravy

Heat together:

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp flour

salt & pepper

Add:

1/2 cup juices off of the stuffed green peppers

1/2 cup tomato sauce

1 tbsp white, granulated sugar

Heat to simmering and simmer for at least 1 minute.

August 06, 2006

Small Gumbo

Spray a 3 quart, heavy sauce pan with cooking spray. In the pan,

Saute:

1/12 large onion (chopped)

1/4 green pepper (diced)

1/8 medium eggplant (diced)

Add:

1 can (10 fluid ounces) chicken broth (skimmed)

1 can (10 fluid ounces) diced tomatoes with green chilies

4 ounces baby carrots

Simmer 10 minutes.

Add:

1 medium-large irish potato (diced)

4 ounces green cabbage (cut up)

Simmer 20 minutes.

Add:

12 ounces fresh or frozen, white fish (chunks)

8 ounces shrimp (shelled and de-veined)

Simmer to thaw and/or cook seafood.

Makes 5-6 servings.

I do not recall the source of this recipe. I think it must have been in an advertisement since, in my hand-written copy, a specific brand of breaded fish fillets was used. I do not use breaded fish, but you may prefer to do so.

March 14, 2006

Matt's Fetticcini Puttanesca

For 1 serving, saute (about 2 minutes):

1 tablespoon capers (chopped)

2 tablespoons red onion (diced)

1/4 cup Roma tomato (diced)

3 anchovies (cut on the bias)

3/4 tablespoon olive oil

garlic (crushed or in tiny dice), to taste

De-glaze pan with:

1/4 cup vegetable stock

Add:

Cooked pasta

1 1/2 tablespoons green olives (sliced)

This recipe is from Chef Matt Smith of Larkspur Restaurant in Wichita KS, as published in Alive and Well, July 1998.

November 07, 2005

Fish Stew (Someone Else's Gumbo)

In a large, heavy pot, saute:

1 small-to-medium-sized onion (diced)

3 Tablespoons butter (or bacon grease)

Add:

2 to 3 quarts water

1 pound boneless fish (cut into chunks)

3 to 4 large tomatoes (fresh or canned--squished up)

Celery (sliced)

Carrots (cut up)

Squash, eggplant, etc (cut up)

1 pound oysters (shucked or canned)

1/2-to-1 pound okra (sliced--fresh or frozen)

Green pepper (diced)

Simmer over low heat for 1 or 2 hours.

Add:

shrimp

1/2 of a small head of green cabbage (cut up)

Simmer an additional 20 minutes. Remove from heat.

Add:

1/4 -to 1/2 teaspoon file gumbo

Table salt (to taste)

Serve as a soup or over rice. (Best served with freshly-baked French bread.) Serves 6 to 10 people.

Fresh, sliced mushrooms are a good addition, and poultry or beef may be substituted for the seafood. Whatever vegetables (no legumes) happen to be in our garden or refrigerator (including spinach leaves), get thrown in--without peeling--in rather large chunks or slices. As long as the mix of vegetables includes tomatoes, okra, and cabbage, it's nearly impossible to go wrong.

As with many soups and stews, this dish tastes better and better as it ages. To avoid stringiness, do not allow the stew to come to a boil when re-heating it.

I'll have to admit to having developed this recipe myself--when I lived in Florida in the early 1980s. (No one else has to take the blame!) Friends and co-workers seemed to enjoy the feed. It is possible that I started out with my Aunt V's recipe for gumbo and got lost along the way.

Pour into a deep baking dish. (I use a Corning Ware® casserole that is 8 inches square and 4 inches deep.)

Part II

Bring to a boil in a 2-quart sauce pan:

1 cup brown sugar

2 1/2 cups water

Boil for about 10 minutes, then pour over the dough.

Bake, uncovered, for 35 minutes at 370 degrees Fahrenheit (more or less). A browned crust forms on the top during baking. After removing from the oven, I like to break the crust up a bit and submerse it in the syrup. The crust rises to the top, again, but has a wonderful glaze.

This is an old family recipe that I recall the younger of my mother's two sisters's making. However, I believe that Aunt V told me that she obtained the recipe from the middle sister, Aunt G. Regardless--this is the traditional dessert for Christmas dinners in our family.

December 30, 2005

Paul Newman Pie

This is chocolate, Susan!

For the crust, mix to make a crumbly dough:

1/2 cup all-purpose white flour

1/4 cup unsalted butter (softened)

1/2 cup of Mouli-grinder grated pecans

Press into a pie plate and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until lightly golden, @ 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Cool.

For the Filling, cream together:

1/4 pound unsalted butter (softened)

1/2 cup white, granulated sugar

Add and beat for 5 minutes:

1 ounce (weight) unsweetened chocolate (melted)

1 Tablespoon rum

1 egg (room temperature)

Add and beat for 5 minutes:

1 egg (room temperature)

Fold in:

1 cup sweetened heavy cream (whipped)

Pile mixture into the cooled crust. Top with additional whipped cream and chill for several hours before serving. Serves eight or nine people.

If memory serves me correctly (and there is no one who can prove me wrong, I'm betting), the filling recipe is based on a recipe given me by a dear friend (deceased for a few years, now) in the mid-1960s. I think that the crust recipe was in the Los Angeles Times in the early 1980s, for a pie that a reader sent in. It was called Better than Paul Newman Pie. Their pie filling was similar to my friend's.

October 01, 2005

Plum Dumplings

Mix together to form a dough:

1 part all purpose flour (I use approximately 3 cups for 18 plums)

1 part mashed potatoes (unseasoned)

1 or 2 eggs

1 Tablespoon butter

1 Tablespoon table salt (sodium chloride)

Roll the dough out to a thickness of approximately 1/4 inch. Cut into squares (approximately 3"). Place in the center of each square:

1 pitted prune plum (small, blue--with skin on)

1/2 to 1 teaspoon granulated white sugar (to taste)

1/2 teaspoon or so, bit of butter (to taste)

Form dough into a ball around each plum. Cook in a large pot of boiling salt water for 15 minutes.

Separately, prepare mixture of:

3 parts bread crumbs

1 part brown sugar

butter

cinnamon

Roll/cover cooked, hot dumplings with the crumb mixture. Dumplings may be served hot or cold. Makes a good accompaniment to garlic-roasted pork roast.

This recipe was given me by Hunky Husband's mother who was born in Serbia.

September 12, 2005

Snowflake Pudding

Mix together, well, in a heavy sauce pan:

1 cup granulated white sugar

1 envelope gelatin (plain)

1/2 teaspoon table salt (sodium chloride)

Slowly add to the mixture, stirring:

1 1/4 cups milk

Cook over low to medium flame until the solids dissolve into the milk. Cool in the sauce pan. Chill in the sauce pan until partially set.

Bring berry mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil and stir until the mixture takes on a clear appearance and thickens slightly. Cool.

This recipe is derived from a recipe found in the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book, Revised Edition of 1963. It has been a traditional dessert for our New Year's Day dinner (Hunky Husband's and my original wedding anniversary day).

Heat over low to medium flame to a full boil. Cook over low flame until thick and smooth (caution: thickens suddenly). Pour into a dish, for pudding, or into two 8"-diameter prepared pie crusts. A meringue topping may be added to pies, and browned in the oven.

This is an old family recipe, most notably made by my maternal grandmother (who married a Dixon). Note that it, unlike many chocolate pie fillings, uses water rather than milk, making for a stronger-tasting chocolate pie filling or pudding. I don't do well at making pie crusts (I don't need the shortening in a crust, anyway), and I normally substitute Eggbeaters for the egg yolks.

September 11, 2005

Elder Brother's Flim Flan

AKA: Texas Buttermilk-Pecan Pie

Blend in a blender for 3 minutes:

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup biscuit mix

3 eggs

1/4 cup butter (softened or melted)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Pour into a greased, 8-inch-diameter layer cake pan.

Top with:

2/3 cup chopped pecans.

Bake 45 minutes (more or less) at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Cool before serving. Top with Rum Sauce, if desired.

Rum Sauce

Boil together:

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

Rum to bring to desired consistency.

Drizzle over Flim Flan.

This dessert is derived from a recipe printed in the Los Angeles Times newspaper, submitted by Wayne Davis. Dates from the mid-1980s.

This recipe is one of my more recently-acquired recipes, its having been given me by our health class instructor (Toni) in 1997. Each serving provides approximately 260 kilo-calories and 2 grams of fat.

September 25, 2005

Salsa (as Practiced in Derby KS)

Put through a screw-feed grinder with a course blade (all items should be pre-cut into chunks that will fit into the chute):

1/2 bushel vine-ripened tomatoes (skins slipped)

7-8 Anaheim (chili) peppers (without seeds)

3 large, white onions (peeled)

2 cloves garlic (peeled)

3 green, bell peppers (without seeds)

3-7 jalapeno peppers (without seeds)

1/4 cup salt

1 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 bunch cilantro (chopped leaves of)

ground cumin (to taste)

ground chili pepper (to taste)

Cook 1-2 hours to reach desired thickness, skimming foam if required. Adjust seasonings to taste. Place in hot, sterilized jars--filling to within 1/3" of the top, and cap with hot, sterilized flats. Apply rings and tighten hand tight (rings will tighten as they cool). Put through a water bath process, if you are so inclined. This recipe produces approximately 1 dozen pint jars of salsa.

This recipe is posted by the generosity of Elegant Friend who avers that the recipe did not originate with her, anyway! She and I usually make two batches at a time--one using only 1/3 or 1/2 of the stated numbers of jalapenos, the other using from 1 to 1 1/2 times as many as stated. EF prefers not-so-spicy food, while I enjoy the heat. EF judges the seasonings by taste...and does an excellent job of it! Thank you, EF.

September 17, 2005

Comments

Grinding the salsa - what a travesty! Salsa should always have large chunks or it's just plain old taco sauce (so sayeth the expert on her high and mighty pedestal).

For anyone who cares: I just corrected the recipe. For some reason, I had input 1 bushel of tomatoes. That would make for a very bland salsa! One-half bushel of tomatoes is the correct amount. Sorry for any inconvenience I may have caused you.

I do not recall the source of this recipe. I think it must have been in an advertisement since, in my hand-written copy, a specific brand of breaded fish fillets was used. I do not use breaded fish, but you may prefer to do so.

March 14, 2006

Fish Stew (Someone Else's Gumbo)

In a large, heavy pot, saute:

1 small-to-medium-sized onion (diced)

3 Tablespoons butter (or bacon grease)

Add:

2 to 3 quarts water

1 pound boneless fish (cut into chunks)

3 to 4 large tomatoes (fresh or canned--squished up)

Celery (sliced)

Carrots (cut up)

Squash, eggplant, etc (cut up)

1 pound oysters (shucked or canned)

1/2-to-1 pound okra (sliced--fresh or frozen)

Green pepper (diced)

Simmer over low heat for 1 or 2 hours.

Add:

shrimp

1/2 of a small head of green cabbage (cut up)

Simmer an additional 20 minutes. Remove from heat.

Add:

1/4 -to 1/2 teaspoon file gumbo

Table salt (to taste)

Serve as a soup or over rice. (Best served with freshly-baked French bread.) Serves 6 to 10 people.

Fresh, sliced mushrooms are a good addition, and poultry or beef may be substituted for the seafood. Whatever vegetables (no legumes) happen to be in our garden or refrigerator (including spinach leaves), get thrown in--without peeling--in rather large chunks or slices. As long as the mix of vegetables includes tomatoes, okra, and cabbage, it's nearly impossible to go wrong.

As with many soups and stews, this dish tastes better and better as it ages. To avoid stringiness, do not allow the stew to come to a boil when re-heating it.

I'll have to admit to having developed this recipe myself--when I lived in Florida in the early 1980s. (No one else has to take the blame!) Friends and co-workers seemed to enjoy the feed. It is possible that I started out with my Aunt V's recipe for gumbo and got lost along the way.